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For the People ForFor thethe PeoplePeople A N e w s l e t t e r o f t h e A b r a h a m L i n c o l n A s s o c i a t i o n Volume 3, Number 1 Spring, 2001 Springfield, Illinois Lincoln Portraits: An Interpretive Framework by Michael Fowler * on through the years. As he discusses Gilbert Stuart to turn him into an contributions that artists and writers icon” (p. 61). Other authors refer to any American artists and have made memorializing Lincoln, second-rate painters who have writers have returned repeat- Peterson notes difficulties that portrait attempted but failed to capture what Medly through the years to artists in particular have had in captur- Lincoln’s secretary, John Nicolay, convey something of the life and char- ing Lincoln’s likeness. He says: noted even during Lincoln’s lifetime: acter of Abraham Lincoln. Biogra- “Lincoln, for better or worse, had no continued on page 3 phies, paintings, articles, sculpture, and film about the man continue unabated to the present. They record, reinterpret, memorialize, somehow re- present aspects of the great Emancipa- tor, the savior of the Union, the man of the people, or some other type or archetype. The richness and volume of interpretive production attest to the continued fascination that much of America has for this historic figure. Paintings of Lincoln are the focus of this present study. To incorporate other media, especially for the scope and intent of this research, would sim- ply be prohibitive in length and breadth. Paintings were also selected as the focus due to the artistic experi- ence of the author and because it is a familiar and approachable medium to many. It also has historically afforded a great deal of flexibility and versatility of expression for the novice as well as the professional artist, besides contain- ing the ever-attractive elements of color. But while paintings of Lincoln appear at least as varied in style and approach as are the written portraits, they have, according to some, fallen short as communicators of at least Lincoln’s likeness. Merrill D. Peter- son’s Lincoln in American Memory (1994) explores the history of Lincoln’s place in American thought and imagination. He frames his study within some of the above-mentioned archetypes, which Lincoln has taken Abraham Lincoln by George P. A. Healy (1860) 2 For the People President’s Column by Don Tracy ebruary 12, 2001, was an espe- February in a small midwestern town! vately produced booklet of annual cially good day for Mr. Lincoln Thank you ALA members and thank Symposium papers into a semi-annual Fin Springfield. It began with a you Michael Beschloss. first-rate scholarly journal published meeting of the Lincoln Legals Adviso- One of the many distinguished by a major university press, Thomas ry Board and ended with the Battle guests at the Banquet was former Schwartz is turning the editorship Hymn of the Republic at the conclu- Governor Jim Edgar and his beautiful over to Dr. Bryon Andreasen over a sion of the Annual Banquet. Between wife, Brenda. This was Governor two-year transition. Thank you, Tom, the two, there was the groundbreaking Edgar’s fourteenth ALA Banquet in for you many years of service to the for the Lincoln Presidential Library, fifteen years, including all eight while Journal, for finding such an able suc- which can be seen on C-SPAN, and the he was governor. At the 1998 cessor, and for continuing to serve as Annual ALA Symposium. Banquet, Governor Edgar officially ALA Secretary, Newsletter Editor, and Seven score years and one day announced that the Lincoln Presiden- Symposium Chair. before, Mr. Lincoln left Springfield tial Library and Museum would, after If you have not yet renewed your never to return. Before leaving, he many years of anticipation, receive its ALA membership, you will soon gave one of his most eloquent speech- first and most important appropria- receive Molly Becker’s firm, but es, “the Farewell Address,” all three tion. Thank you Governor Edgar. charming, “now you belong to the versions of which can be found in the Comptroller Dan Hynes attended ages,” letter. Please renew now so that Collected Works. Thanks to the expert the Banquet for the second year in a we can count on your continued sup- work of Daniel Stowell of the Lincoln row. Hynes and Governor George port and interest. If you have a ques- Legal Papers and Christine Powell of Ryan are cochairs of the Illinois tion about the status of your member- the University of Michigan, the Bicentennial Commission and are ship, you can contact me via e-mail at Collected Works is now available online working with the ALA on initial plan- [email protected]. in searchable format through the ALA ning for 2009. Mark your calendars now for Web site. Thanks to Stacey McDer- I have received much and lavish February 12, 2002. As a member, you mott of the Lincoln Legal Papers, the praise for this year’s Banquet, which I will receive advance notice of the ALA Web site is now current and more hereby pass on with amplification to Banquet details and Symposium pro- complete than ever. Kim Bauer and the many dedicated directors and gram. Clarence Page has tentatively Thomas Schwartz continue to provide members who have contributed so agreed to be the Banquet speaker. the excellent content. Please check our much: Jim Patton (Banquet Chair), Allen Guelzo, Brooks Simpson, and Web site out and let us know what you Georgia Northrup (Arrangements and Lerone Bennett, Jr., have committed would like added or changed. The Seating), Thomas Schwartz (Invita- to the Symposium, and Ira Berlin has address is www.alincolnassoc.com. tion Flyer, Program & Virtual Library been invited to complete the panel. I For the second year in a row, the Report), Harlington Wood, Jr. hope to see you then, if not before. Banquet was sold out, this time sever- (Program Photographs), Richard al weeks before the reservation cutoff Mills (Lincoln the Lawyer Award Member News date. Not bad for a Monday night in Presentation), Susan Mogerman (Pres- idential Library Report), Bob Eckley ondolences are extended to the Unless otherwise indicated, (Endowment Announcement), Very families of Vernon Fernandez photographs are courtesy of the Reverend William Privette (Invocation and Abraham Lincoln Maro- Illinois State Historical Library, C & Benediction), and Greg Walbert vitz. Fernandez was a leader in the his- Springfield (Invitation Flyer design). torical community of Jacksonville, One of the many benefits of serv- Illinois, and the recognized authority For the People (ISSN 1527-2710) is ing as ALA President is the opportuni- on Jacksonville history. Abraham published four times a year and is a ty to dine with people like James B. Lincoln Marovitz was a distinguished benefit of membership of the Stewart, Doris Kearns Goodwin, and Illinois legislator and judge. Those Abraham Lincoln Association Michael Beschloss. All are great who attended the 1999 Abraham 1 Old State Capitol Plaza speechmakers and charming dinner Lincoln Association Banquet will Springfield, Illinois companions with interesting insights remember Judge Marovitz’s eloquent 62701 into capital issues and controversies. invocation and benediction. His pass- After thirteen years of editing the Newsletter design and layout ing at age ninety-five is a genuine loss. Journal of the Abraham Lincoln by William B. Tubbs He was everyone’s friend and a strong Association, during which time the [email protected] advocate of his namesake, Abraham Journal has evolved from a small, pri- Lincoln. For the People 3 THE ABRAHAM LINCOLN Lincoln Portraits ASSOCIATION DONALD R. TRACY An Interpretive Framework President MOLLY BECKER continued from page 1 can be described as kaleidoscopic as RICHARD E. HART the paintings “‘petrified’ some single they reflect, refract, and transmit RICHARD MILLS Vice-Presidents look, but the picture remained hard glimpses of the people and times that and cold” (Mellon, The Face of Lincoln, produced them. While some of the THOMAS F. S CHWARTZ Secretary p.6). Peterson concludes that it is the paintings of Lincoln seem dry deriva- JUDITH BARRINGER photographs and sculpture, rather tives of well known photographic Treasurer than the paintings and engravings, that poses, others are more interpretative— DAN W. B ANNISTER have “opened a window into Lincoln’s some refreshingly so. A few seem Immediate Past-President soul” (Peterson, p. 341). Indeed, clumsily drawn, and still others have Board of Directors Frederick Hill Meserve, an early lead- the decorative flair and charm of folk R-Lou Barker ing and established authority and col- art. Roger D. Bridges Michael Burlingame lector of Lincoln photographs, makes Some have written informative- Sheldon S. Cohen an even more restrictive evaluation: ly—even skillfully—about Lincoln’s John Daly “Of the countless engravings and portrayal in the visual media of pho- Brooks Davis Rodney O. Davis paintings of Lincoln, many are mere tographs, sculpture, paintings, and Robert S. Eckley caricatures. The photographs show engravings. They have emphasized Donald H. Funk him as he was” (Meserve, The the descriptive and narrative elements, Allen C. Guelzo Edith Lee Harris Photographs of Abraham Lincoln, p. and, appropriately, their historic accu- Kathryn Harris 25). racy. Few if any have written about the Norman D. Hellmers Still, when examined and inter- way the medium communicates on its Earl W. Henderson, Jr. Fred B. Hoffmann preted for what they are as art own expressive terms. This author, for Barbara Hughett objects—by the visible, attestable over twenty years a painter and Robert W. Johannsen things within the pieces themselves— instructor of art and design, argues Lewis E. Lehrman Susan Mogerman the paintings of Lincoln, completed that the way a painting is interpreted, Georgia Northrup over nearly a century and a half ago, as in any work of art, comes at least as Phillip S.
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